Suspected NVIDIA chip smuggler arrested in Singapore

Singapore police have arrested a man accused of smuggling Nvidia chips to circumvent US export controls, multinational news channel

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/3-men-charged-fraud-nvidia-chips-singapore-china-deepseek-4964721

Singapore arrests alleged Nvidia chip smugglers | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/03/singapore-arrests-alleged-nvidia-chip-smugglers/

According to a CNA report, the Singapore Police arrested three men on Thursday, February 27, 2025, for allegedly smuggling NVIDIA chips. Two of the three arrested are Singaporeans, Aaron Wu Guo Jie (41) and Alan Wei Jiaorun (49). The two have been charged with conspiracy to defraud a server supplier. According to the indictment, the two are accused of 'falsely representing that the goods would not be transferred to any person other than the 'authorized recipient of the end user' in 2024.' The other arrested individual is Chinese national Li Ming (51), who has been charged with fraud by false representation.

The three men are reportedly engaged in smuggling to circumvent U.S. export controls and bring Nvidia chips into China.

The US Department of Commerce is reportedly investigating whether Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is training its AI using US-made chips that are not permitted to be shipped to China.

On February 1, 2025, Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry told American companies operating in Singapore that it expects them to comply with both U.S. and Singaporean laws. Singapore's Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng noted that the government will 'not tolerate' companies knowingly using their connections to Singapore to evade or violate other countries' export controls.

While Singapore has no legal obligation to enforce other countries' unilateral export controls, it 'expects' all companies operating in Singapore to take such controls into account where applicable, said Second Minister for Trade and Industry Leng. Fraud by false representation carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment or a fine, or both.

According to Bloomberg, Singapore is investigating whether 'NVIDIA chips subject to export controls' that were installed in Dell and SuperMicro servers were shipped to locations other than the official shipping destinations. Dell told TechCrunch that it has a rigorous trade compliance program and will investigate customers who do not comply.

According to Nvidia's annual report , Singapore accounts for less than 2% of the company's revenue, but the company expects this to rise to 18% by fiscal 2025.